'That one moment in which we break them': The story behind Bayern's cup triumph

Stephan Lehmann made sure everyone really did leave happy. The stadium announcer reported shortly before full time that sufficient underground trains were available for the journey home. That wasn’t a given on this occasion, but rather the relieving end to a day that started with a strike on the bus, underground and tram network in Munich. It proceeded with a 2-0 win in the cup clash at home to Leipzig and finished with FC Bayern reaching the semi-finals of the DFB Cup for the first time in six years. Just how much relief this 32nd semi-final appearance in the history of the record cup winners brought was evident to all 75,000 spectators at the Allianz Arena when the victory was confirmed.

But before Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah, Leon Goretzka, Harry Kane or Manuel Neuer could clench their firsts and scream in delight, Leipzig had been a very tough nut to crack for at least the first 45 minutes. The visitors, spurred on by two heavy defeats to the Munich men in the Bundesliga already this season, started as if goals scored in the first 15 minutes counted double. Leipzig caught the Bayern defence by surprise and when the lively Yan Diomande skipped past three home players and his pass was turned in by Christoph Baumgartner after three minutes and 39 seconds, it didn’t appear undeserved. Luckily, Baumgartner was a whisker offside and the goal was rightly disallowed.

Leipzig start bravely and on the front foot

Nevertheless, Leipzig continued to dominate the early stages, with 54 percent possession, a better pass completion rate (90 to 80%), more successful dribbles (six to two), more shots (five to three) as well as better tackling stats (54 to 46%). Like in the league game in Saxony a few weeks ago, Ole Werner’s side showed courage and quickness in their actions as well as distinct attacking quality – especially in Diomande, who Alphonso Davies struggled to contain. Bayern were lucky that Josip Stanišić’s foul on Antonio Nusa took place just outside the penalty area and therefore couldn’t be retrospectively punished by VAR.

But after about 20 minutes, Bayern fought their way into the cup tie. Led by the aggressive Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlović in midfield, a colossal Tah in defence and a committed Stanišić, the hosts seized control of the contest. The fact this didn’t yet result in an opening goal was down to Castello Lubeka’s man-marking of Kane. Nevertheless, FCB had turned around all the statistics by the end of the first half: 70% possession in the 15 minutes before the break speaks volumes. “The main thing we lacked was taking the lead ourselves in a good spell,” bemoaned RB coach Werner. “Then it might have been a different story.”

High-speed pressing against the firewall

But after the break, Bayern stepped up their dominance even further. The few balls they lost were immediately won back with high-speed pressing, and wherever Leipzig had previously found space, the Bayern defence now cleverly closed down the gaps. RB increasingly limited themselves to defending – but did so with great effort as a collective and in two tight lines, which Werner had built like a firewall in front of the visitors' goal. The result: Bayern played, Bayern combined, Bayern passed the ball around and waited patiently for the visitors to make that one decisive slip-up.

This came after everyone in Leipzig colours was almost celebrating a goal. Rômulo headed against the underside of the bar – from an offside position, it turned out – and this moment briefly had the visitors scrambling back, which Bayern pounced on in clinical fashion. A long ball to the onrushing Stanišić, a foul by goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt, a Kane penalty, 1-0 (64’). “Leipzig certainly did well. But we notice it time and again – we’ve played against them three times now – that there’s one moment in the match in which we manage to break them. The penalty changed the game,” assessed Tah, who celebrated his 30th birthday. It was already Bayern’s third penalty goal in this cup campaign and Kane’s sixth goal, his 39th of the season in all competitions in his 34th appearance. With that, the England striker moved ahead of Kylian Mbappé as the outright top goalscorer in Europe’s top five leagues. “We stayed calm and steady today, didn’t do anything silly and just kept waiting for that moment. Then it came, and we used it well,” summarised coach Vincent Kompany.

On the brink after quickfire double

Among complaints from Leipzig, Bayern followed up with a second strike: Michael Olise with a delicate ball over the tap for Luis Díaz, who left Vandevoordt with no chance one-v-one. Bayern needed just four minutes for the two goals that all but confirmed their place in the semi-finals. “We felt that the moment would come – and then the match turns in a completely different direction,” added Tah.

Leipzig’s frustration came out in little nudges and fouls – in the third meeting between the teams this season, the Saxony side were again beaten. Not since 2021/22 have Bayern beaten the same team three times in one season (Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga and Supercup).  “We had a clear plan because we knew that we’d get chances to win it the longer the game went on and the longer we put Leipzig under pressure, especially in the second half,” said Neuer. The hosts’ defensive solidity was also impressive: in the first half alone, Bayern conceded just four shots and an expected goals against value of 0.3. In the Bundesliga match in Leipzig, there had been nine shots and an xGA value of 2.0 after 45 minutes.

So at full time, FC Bayern celebrated the end of their longest drought without a cup semi-final in this millennium. “We have the big dream of going to Berlin again, like in 2020,” beamed president Herbert Hainer. “That felt good today! We have a great longing for Berlin. The whole club wants to get to this final,” highlighted CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen. And the fans too broke into a loud chant of “Berlin, Berlin – we’re going to Berlin!” But before that, they all went home delighted on this special evening.

All the reaction to the cup win over Leipzig: